Ditching and loading device



Nov. 20, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1948 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Nov. 20, 1951 A. RADAKOVICH DITCHING AND LOADING DEVICE Filed March 16, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 54 l m 59 INVENTOR. ARCHIE RADAKOVICH AT TOR NEY Nov. 20, 1951 A. RADAKOVICH DITCHING .AND LOADING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 16, 1948' 00000 wvvvv ww o "m wowown w wowp E Q 'INVENTOR. ARCHIE RADAKOVICH ATTORNEY W- 0, 1951 A. RADAKOVICH 2,575,729

DITCHING AND LOADING DEVICE Filed March 16, I948 1 Sheets-Shed (4 INVENTOR. ARCHIE RADAKOVICH ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I q A. a 2,575,729 r DITCHING AND LOADING DEVICE Archie Radakovich, Kelso, Wash.

Application March 16, 1948, Serial No. 15,197

3 Claims. (01. 198-11) This invention relates to ditching and loading machines and is particularly adapted to be used in the digging of ditches along roadways and the loading of gravel and the like from stock piles into trucks.

The primary object of the invention is to mount a conveyor on wheeled supports at one of its ends and having a digger shovel associated with its opposite or lower end.

A further object of the invention is to provide a power unit mounted to the said wheels for driving the machine over the surface of the ground, and also supplying power for operating the conveyor and the digging shovel.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pivotally mounted horizontal delivery conveyor for receiving materials delivered by the first said conveyor, delivering them to a desired destination relative to the machine.

A further object of the invention is to .provide adjustable supporting means for raising and lowering the digging shovel.

A sitll further object of the invention is the mounting of the primary conveyor off center relative to the supporting wheels so that the machine can be attached to a truck, grader or.

other implement used in construction work.

This permits the conveyor to operate along sideof the said machine and still having its supporting and driving means tracking along behind the machine.

And a further object of the invention is to provide a digging and loading machine that can be operated independently from other implements, making it possible to use the same for loading gravel from stock piles into trucks, or even digging excavations and loading the material on said trucks.

In the operation -of my new and improved digging and loading machine where the same is being used to dig ditches parallel to highways, I find that the best method of operation is to connect it to a truck or grader working in combination with the same. This provides for greater strength and rigidity in the operation of the machine offering better control of the shovel in the digging operations, also in the case of a truck it provides a place for loading the excavated materials.

These and other incidental objects will be apparent in the drawings, specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of my new and im proved digger and loading machine, the broken lines indicating the relative position of a truc or grader.

Figure2 is a fragmentary detail view illustratng a rotary cutting blade associated with the digging shovel.

Figure 3 is a front view of Figure 2 looking inthe direction indicated.

Figure 4 is a rear view taken on line I4 of Figure 1, showing the method of mounting the conveyors and associated parts upon the supporting wheels.

Figure 5 is a sectional plan view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the machine asv the same would appear mounted'to a truck, parts broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 7 is a plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary detail of my new and improved digging machine adapted to a standard grader blade, the grader supporting the forward end of the conveyor and the shovel controlling the same in the'operation of digging the ditch.

Referring more specifically to the drawings:

My new and improved digging and loading device consists of a primary elevating conveyor. I. Located on the lower end 2 of the conveyor is a digging shovel 3 consisting of a blade 4. The side walls 5 of the shovel form part of the side rails 6 of the conveyor. The opposite and upper end 1 of the conveyor is mounted upon the axle 8 of the wheels 9 by way of the supporting vertical frame III, which is secured to the underside of the conveyor I at II at its upper end and having its lower end fixedly secured to the axle housing I2.

A horizontal A-frame I3 is fixedly secured to the vertical frame I0 at I4 and to the underside of the conveyor I at I5. This makes a solid and rigid connection between the axle housing I2 of the wheels 9 and the conveyor I. The shovel 3 is carried by the wheel assembly I6 consisting of the wheel II journalled to the lower end of the supporting fork I8, which in turn is pivotally mounted to the conveyor I at I9.

The shovel 3 is raised and lowered by adjusting the angle of the fork I8 through the adjust' ing bolt 20, which is pivotally mounted to the arm I8 at 2I at its one end and anchored to the bracket arm 22 through the adjusting nuts 23 at its upper end. The supporting wheel assembly I6 is not always used in connection with my machine, as there areapplications of the" same to graders and the like where the auxiliary machine would support the shovel 3. 7 :1V

The conveyor consists of the side rails 6 and a partial bottom 24 and has the conveyor belt 25 trained about the idler roller 26 at its lower end and the driving roller 2! at its upper end adjustably mounted by suitable tightening means 28 to the conveyor and driven by the drive chains 29 and 30. The chain 30 is driven directly from the shaft 3| of the transmission 32 of the motor 33. M

In some operations i include adie ing rotor 34 which'isrotatably mounted to the swinging arms 35, which are pivotally mounted to the cross shaft 35, which is journalled within bearings 3'1 forming part of the shovel side'iwallsifiig The rotor 34 is driven by the driving chains 38,

39 and 40, the latter chain extending' longitu dinally of the conveyor to bewdrivenhinaany mounted at 5M0 the upper end ofithe gear hous-.

ing 43. The conveyor is further supported by the telescopic bar assembly 5|, which is pivotally mounted at 52 to the pedestal .42 and at Site the underside of the conveyor 4|.

The conveyor 4| is held at any desired lateral angle to the'conveyor bythe looking or unlocking of the hand wheel 582 The hand wheel forms part of a setscrewthreaded within the collar 50" forming part of the housing 42, the end'of the set screw engaging the lower portion of the housing 49 to retainthe latter in selected angular position.

I will now describe the method of driving the conveyor belt 54 of the-conveyor 4|. The shaft 3| drives through the transmission 55into the gear box 43 through the gear box 56 through thehousirig 49* by way of the. drive shaft 51 which drives the'chain 58 and thebeltrollenSB. The conveyor 4| may beadjusted to any angle'to the conveyor relative to the'longitudinal line of themachine, as one-of T the primary objects of my invention is to be able todeliver the material from the primary conveyor in any "horizontal directionrelative to" the machine. I have not attempted to illustrate the'gearing within the housings 43 and 56 because this is 'of a Well known type of power. transmission;

Iwill now describe the methodof propelling thamachine over? theground surface. A chain 60 drives the transmission 6|, which in turn drives the wheels 9 by means of the chain 63 and sprocket 62' which is. drivingly connected through a typical differential 63' with'the Wheel axle 8. The wheels-9 are mounted to the axle 8 by the Well knownball and socket connectionsfill, and in order to steer the machine a t-ieero'd B5 ispivotally connected to the wheel assemblies at 66.

A. reduction gear box 61 is fixedly secured to Whenthe crank is turned by:

which in turn is operated by the hand crank 12 the wheels will be turned about their ball and socket connections 64 steering the machine over the ground surface. I do not wish to be limited to the particular form of driving units described and shown in my drawings, as all of the elements may be controlled with well known drives, as for instance the whole machine could be operated by hydraulic motors from a central hydraulic ump.

Referring to Figure 6,1 illustrate digger and loader adapted or mounted to a truck. A universal connection 13 is secured to the frame lilzofamymachine at 74 and to the truck 15 at 15. The forward end of the conveyor and shovel' 3are connected to the forward end of the truck -by-a=- well known system, consisting of A secondarycon-- a bar 11 pivotally mounted to the truck at T9 and to the shovel 3 at and a hydraulic cylinder 8| connected to the bar 11 at 18 and to the shovel 3 at82'. Thisbariassembly is telescopic so that the operatingcylinder 8| maymove the shovel: 3 away from or toward the truck while digging the ditch: D.

In Figure 6 it will be noted that-the wheels 91 are parallel. to vthe.longitudinal center line of the truck,;while the conveyor is at an angle to:

the truck while digging, theditch. This adjustment is made by the aboveidescribed. steeringv apparatus controlledfrom the steeringhandles 12. V.

It will .be .noted thattthe structure ofmymachine is such that theadelivery end of the con-- veyor is of .sufficient height :to clear the wheels of the truck 15 and to elevate'the materials sufficiently high todeliverthezsame into the truck:

830i agrader by suitabletogglelinkage 84. The raising and'floweringmechanism of the grader will. be employedto raise a-nd lower the digger shovel 3 inithe" work being performed, usually ditching and so" forth. When my'invention is be ing used Jas'a loading device it is usually used separately, as for instance when loading gravel.

ofi of gravel'pil'es into trueks,or if. itis being used for excavating purposes, it may also be used as a separate machine, but whenthe same is being used in connection with other implements it is, 'specialfittings as easily and quickly attached by above described. What I claim, as new, is: l. Aeonvey'ing machine. comprising, in combination, a pair'ofiwhe'elsmounted to an axle, a

frame'mountedbn'said axle and pivotal thereon,

a chute rigidlymounte'd on said'frame at an angle forwardly'of said :wheelswithits lower forward: end at ground'leVe'LLsaid chute being at an angle to the path oftsaid wheels-to position its forward endlaterally of the wheel path, a third wheel supporting theiforwardend of said chute, a blade orrthe forward end ofsaid chute for scooping up loose material, a continuous conveying means said chute for moving the material the length of said chute and discharging it at the other enda thereof, a second chute pivotally supported adjacent one end by said fr'ame, said second chute being pivotal about a vertical axis located beneath the upper discharge-tend of said inclined chute;

so that one end of said second chute is under said discharge end to receive the discharged material regardless of the angle of said second chute, a continuous conveying means in said second chute for moving the material to and discharging it from the opposite end thereof, and drive means carried by said frame for driving both of said conveying means and said wheels.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, including a vertical housing carried by said frame, a transverse housing pivotally mounted on the upper end of said vertical housing and forming a yoke, a shaft journalled in said transverse housing and extending beyond one end thereof, a transmission between said shaft and said drive means and ex 15 a manually controlled transmission from said power unit is connected to said wheels whereby said machine is self-propelled.

ARCHIE RADAKOVICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 736,846 Hamilton Aug. 18, 1903 765,832 Hamilton July 26, 1904 897,893 Hamilton Sept. 8, 1908 1,379,039 Platto May 24, 1921 1,389,888 McGowan et a1. Sept. 6, 1921 1,702,519 Newdick Feb. 19, 1929 1,762,060 Jones et a1. June 3, 1930 2,038,809 Tallman et a1 Apr. 28, 1936 

